Community and staff press Evergreen board after equity director departs; district to reconfigure role

Dr. Jamila Singleton, Evergreen Public Schools’ director of student equity and family engagement, is leaving the district and community members told the board on Sept. 23 they are worried equity work will be deprioritized.

Parents, teachers and nonprofit leaders urged the board to publicly acknowledge Singleton’s departure and to explain how the district will maintain the equity initiatives she led, saying her exit and recent staffing reductions have weakened supports for students of color and other historically marginalized groups.

Speakers said the equity office had built systems that raised student voice, supported teachers and produced targeted interventions; they described a pattern of equity staff departures and cuts to equity-specific roles since 2021. “I have never seen the level of dehumanization rise to such a community as it has over the past year,” Clarissa Hightower told the board. She asked whether equity remains a district focus and how the district will restore the decision-making power she says was removed from Singleton’s role.

Several speakers added detail about what was lost since 2021: elimination of equity instructional coaches, dissolution of leadership roles that previously centered equity, and reassignment of the affirmative-action plan out of the equity office. “This is now my second time in less than a year standing before you to raise concerns about equity in this district,” said Sheena Hardy, who described Singleton as “one of the few consistent supports for families like mine.”

Britney Lesseigne, CEO of YWCA Clark County, told the board, “Equity is not a side project. It is the foundation for student achievement, family trust, and community partnership.” Student and staff speakers said they have seen concrete programs — affinity groups, student leadership platforms, newcomer workshops and disaggregated-data practices — that depended on a staffed equity office.

In response, Superintendent Maloney said Dr. Singleton had accepted a job at a local charter school and thanked her for her work. Maloney told the board, "At Dr. Singleton's suggestion, we will not be posting a job for the director position at this time. But we will reconfigure during this transition time how equity work is going to be led and implemented in EPS this school year." She announced the district will hire specialists to work directly in schools and classrooms to provide coaching, facilitation and mentoring and said resources would be reinvested into positions "that will make actionable the work that has been envisioned and initiated by our outgoing director." Maloney said eight schools are piloting family engagement work developed under Singleton and that full implementation is planned by the 2026-27 school year.

Board members and several public speakers pressed for a clear plan to replace leadership and for transparency about past decisions that reduced equity staffing. Multiple speakers raised the departure of several senior Black women in recent years and asked the board to commission an equity-focused climate audit of district leadership culture. Kyle Helm, a district employee and former student, asked the board to “prioritize it by filling the director position, by creating and communicating a transition plan for the department, and by investigating why our Black women leaders leave.”

Superintendent Maloney and TLE (Teaching, Learning and Equity) staff said they will provide updates at future board meetings, and Maloney outlined an interim staffing approach emphasizing specialists who will coach staff on culturally responsive practice and student voice. The superintendent’s statement that the director role will not be reposted immediately is a district direction; no formal board vote on the staffing decision was recorded.

The board said it was “sad” to see Singleton go and several directors publicly thanked her for her work. Community speakers said they will continue to monitor implementation and seek concrete timelines and staffing plans.

Looking ahead, the district will present more details about the reconfigured equity staffing and the pilot work at upcoming TLE updates; community members asked the board to formally commit to replacing the director role and to conduct a transparent review of recent staffing changes so the district can demonstrate continued commitment to equity.